Saturday, March 31, 2018

Athletes have moments of pure joy. As a Pirate fan, I can picture Bill Mazeroski dancing around the bases after his 1960 World Series winning home run or Steve Blass jumping in the arms of Bob Robertson after winning game seven of the 1971 World Series. In more recent years, we can picture the Penguins players piling on top of Matt Murray at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the last two year. In each case, that joy signifies the fulfillment of the hopes and struggles of many years. Everything that has led to that point is worthwhile.
Our greatest joy is what we celebrate today. Christ is risen, and all the world is changed. In original sin, our first ancestors turned away from God. In choosing sin, they chose a world of struggle and pain instead of the joy that God had intended for us. Yet God would never give up on His people. He formed the Jewish nation as the Chosen People, that He might prepare to send a Savior. Christ came to bring us the Father’s love, even when His ministry led to His death on the cross. All of that history was meant to lead to this day, when our humanity is refashioned in the image of Christ risen from the dead. God’s plan is fulfilled. By our baptism, we share in Christ’s new life, and everything that has led to this point is worthwhile.
Most likely, none of us coming to church on Easter Sunday doing an imitation of Bill Mazeroski’s home run trot. Yet our joy on this day is far beyond anything else we can experience. We express our Easter joy in various ways. We may dress up in our best clothes, even if a new Easter bonnet is perhaps no longer fashionable. If we have given up candy or chocolate or some other pleasure during Lent, we celebrate by breaking our fast. And once in church, we notice a big difference from our season of Lent. During Lent, we had no flowers or other festive decorations in church. Now we are as festive as we can be. During Lent our music was more somber, but on Easter we sing “Alleluia” for the first time since before Ash Wednesday. As St. Augustine told us, “We are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.”
For many of us, the end of Lent signifies relief more than joy. We are happy to have the penance over with so we can get back to normal. I hope instead that we can look at this Easter as the culmination of all that God has called us to share. Easter is not just about Jesus’ resurrection; it is also a celebration of our baptism, by which we share that new life. Everything we do throughout our lives is something that can expres-s the grace Christ has given us. In that way, today’s feast is a reminder of the glory that we will share with our Risen Lord for all eternity. Even our Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies become a reminder to us that this is the feast of our victory.
In the joy of this day, I take this time to thank all those who have contributed to our celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. To all who have contributed to our liturgies, and to all who have helped make this a joyful time in other ways as well, I offer my gratitude. In addition, I offer you my wish (and I speak on behalf of Fr. Russell) for a blessed and joyous Easter. May God bless you. Father H

Thursday, March 29, 2018

When I was in sixth grade, I began thinking about the priesthood. Over the years there were many times when I questioned if that was what God wanted of me. There were two times each year, though, when I always felt more confident in my vocation. One was when I served the Midnight Mass at Christmas, and the other was when I served the glorious Liturgies of Holy Week. At this time of the year, our Salvation becomes more real to us.
Today, with Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion, we commemorate the Lord’s entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week, but we also read the Passion and thus set the tone for the remainder of the week.
Monday through Wednesday of this week are mostly ordinary days, though a little more somber than usual. We have Confessions available 3:00-4:00 Monday through Wednesday, 6:00-7:00 Monday and Tuesday evenings and 7:00-8:00 Wednesday evening. Please note that there are no Confessions after Wednesday of Holy Week.
Holy Thursday has three main themes. At the Last Supper, Christ gave us the Eucharist, He instituted the priesthood and He gave an example of service by washing the feet of His Apostles. Our Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which begins the Sacred Triduum, will begin at 7:00 in the evening. Church will remain open until Midnight, and our parish bus will leave for the seven church tour right after Mass.
Good Friday is the only day of the year on which we do not celebrate Mass. There is a Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion at 2:00 (after Stations of the Cross at Noon). The Liturgy is divided into three parts: a Liturgy of the Word at which we proclaim the Passion of the Lord, the Veneration of the Cross, followed by Holy Communion (from the Eucharist consecrated at Holy Thursday). This liturgy is very simple but very powerful. The Divine Mercy Novena is at 4:00, and the Living Stations of the Cross (followed by Veneration) are at 7:00.
Holy Saturday is a very quiet day, with no official liturgy during the day (although we will have the blessing of Easter food at noon). That night, however, we have the most joyful liturgy of the whole year. The Easter Vigil begins at 8:30 (as it cannot begin before dark) and is always the liturgical highlight of the year for me as we begin our celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection and our share in His new life through our baptism. At that Mass we welcome the newest Catholics, who have been preparing through the RCIA.
Finally, last year I made a special request that you not give me food for Easter. I have always appreciated people’s generosity, but in the last couple of years I have been trying to watch what I eat. I am not speaking for Fr. Russell, but I would rather try to behave myself. I will have the box for donations to Focus on Renewal at the blessing of Easter food on Holy Saturday, and I would ask you to give to the F.O.R. or the St. Vincent de Paul Society instead of adding to my waistline. Thank you.

A woman was in the store with her two children. The mother was buying something that the older child needed. The younger child asked, “Is that for me? Can I have one, too?” Children often want what their siblings have. Sometimes it is not appropriate for each to have the same thing, but sometimes it is.
The season of Lent is something like that. Lent was not originally intended for all of us. This season was originally preparation for the catechumens, the adults preparing to enter the Church through baptism at the Easter Vigil. Today, we use the RCIA to prepare catechumens for baptism, to prepare those who are baptized in other Christian communities to enter the Church, and to prepare those who are baptized Catholic but who were never further catechized to complete their initiation. Those taking part in the RCIA in our parish have been meeting on Monday evenings since the fall. On the first night, I told those taking part that I would be giving them the teaching of the Church to help them understand what we believe. But I also said that our main goal was not so much to give them an academic understanding as to help them fall in love with Christ.

With that end in mind, the Church devised a special time for the catechumens to prepare for their baptism. As Christ fasted for forty days in the desert, so the Church arranged a forty-day fast period for those preparing to enter the Church. The fasting was not meant to be a punishment. It was intended as a way for them to put Christ first in their lives. So the period of Lent provided an opportunity for the catechumens to grow in the love of Christ. And that is when the rest of the Church said, “Hey, what about us?” Those who were already in the Church wanted to share the time of Lent so that they, too, could experience a growth in the love of Christ.

So my special request for everyone today is to ask you to pray especially for those preparing to enter the Church at the Easter Vigil. As they enter into a new relationship with Christ, they are (despite the months of preparation) going to have an adjustment. They are going to have many questions as they move forward. At the same time, they have an excitement that comes with beginning a new adventure and entering into a new relationship. I am often inspired by those who come to the faith as adults. Their excitement often reminds me that, like most cradle Catholics, I sometimes take my faith for granted. When I see the excitement of a neophyte, a new member of the Catholic family, it reminds me of what a great gift we have. At times like that, I feel like the small child who asks his mother, “What about me? Can I have one?”

And that brings us back to our season of Lent. With just a couple of weeks left, we may be running out of steam. We may have struggle with our Lenten observances, or we may have forgotten them altogether. If we make a special effort to pray for the RCIA and those coming into the Church, we can renew our own faith. Lent may always be something of a challenge, but it can become an exciting time for us as well.

Saturday, March 10, 2018

One of the traditions of Lent, a devotion which can be used throughout the year but which is more prevalent in Lent, is the Stations of the Cross. The Way of the Cross (as it is also known) arose as a way to walk with Christ on the way to His crucifixion. The Romans would force a prisoner to carry his own cross (actually just the cross-beam) in order to make a public spectacle of him. Pilgrims to the Holy Land would walk that path and reflect upon Christ’s sufferings. Those who lived in the region were quick to offer their assistance, setting up stands – or stations – where visitors could stop and hear the story of what had happened on a particular spot. Some of those would be very meaningful to people, and some would be especially fanciful. The latter would often be stories made up by people who wanted a cut of the offerings that the visitors would give. Certain stations became more popular than the rest, eventually leaving us with the fourteen we know of today.
The Stations of the Cross became popular when pilgrims returned home and wanted to continue the prayerful experiences they had. People would set up their own Way of the Cross, with Stations that corresponded with the ones they had visited in Jerusalem. In time, it became customary to set up images of the Stations in churches so that a local parish community could pray them together. One main feature, of course, is that they are usually located around the perimeter of the church so that people can walk from one to another, thus continuing the idea of walking with Christ. The guideline on their placement is that the Stations should begin and end close to the Sanctuary. They can go either direction, however, and I knew of another parish like ours where the Stations were in the stained glass windows. A new pastor was leading the Stations the first night, but the windows were dark and hard to see. It was only at the end that the parishioners informed him that he had gone the wrong direction.
At St. Malachy, we have several different experiences of the Stations. On Friday afternoons at 2:10, the school children lead the parish in a simple version that was designed for young people but can be quite profitable for adults. On alternating Friday evenings we celebrate the Stations in a traditional way but with a modern reflection, Everyone’s Way of the Cross. On the other Friday evenings, such as this coming Friday, we have a special presentation of the Living Stations. Our crew does such a beautiful job and truly makes the Living Stations a prayerful experience.
On Good Friday 1991, Pope Saint John Paul offered a different set of Stations that were completely Scriptural. The fourteen stations he offered were: 1) Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, 2) Jesus, betrayed by Judas, is arrested, 3) Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin, 4) Jesus is denied by Peter, 5) Jesus is judged by Pilate, 6) Jesus is scourged and crowned with thorns, 7) Jesus bears the cross, 8) Jesus is helped by Simon the Cyrenian to carry His cross, 9) Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, 10) Jesus is crucified, 11) Jesus promises His kingdom to the good thief, 12) Jesus speaks to His Mother and the Disciple, 13) Jesus dies on the cross, 14) Jesus is placed in the tomb. Feel free to use those Stations as an alternative for your prayer sometime. But however we choose to pray them, alone or in common, we remember that we are walking with Christ on the way He traveled to bring us salvation. Father H

Sunday, March 4, 2018

One evening when I was a boy, my parents took me to a special event at another parish. While there, they suggested that it would be a good time for all of us (including me) to go to Confession. I went in and knelt in a dark box, waiting the priest who turned out to be rather stern. When it came time for the Act of Contrition, my nerves got the better of me. I stumbled over the line, “Who are all good and deserving of all my love.” What came out was that God was “deserving of all my sins.” Very loudly, the priest informed me that I had gotten it wrong. What he didn’t know, poor fellow, was that my mother was on the other side of the confessional. He opened her side next, and he never stood a chance. Years later, as a newly ordained priest, I was hearing confessions when a little girl made the same mistake I had once made. I was glad that she had chosen to go behind the screen (it wasn’t a choice in my day), for she never saw me laughing. I made myself a promise that day never to yell at anyone in Confession.
Since then, I have often thought that we could learn from the mistakes people make with the Act of Contrition. Perhaps I should start by saying that the priest who corrected me at least had a point. God does not deserve our sins. That thought reminds us that we have never done anything to “deserve” the love God gives us. His love is a free gift. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, He gives us love far beyond what we could ever hope for or expect.
What I have heard frequently comes up at the very beginning in the version I grew up with. We say, “O my God, I am heartily sorry for all my sins.” Often, however, it comes out as, “I am hardly sorry for my sins.” I always suspect that may be truer than we’d like to admit. Even when we are forgiven, we still have concupiscence. Concupiscence is a result of Original Sin and of each of our sins. It is the inclination to sin that comes from the attraction to things that are wrong, and it produces our inclination to sin. While we promise to turn away from sin, we know that we are weak and that the temptations that come our way will seem, in some way, good to us. We should never let that feeling keep us from seeking God’s mercy. Even if we are only “hardly” sorry, He will help us to want His mercy more and more.
With many people, the issue is not so much what we say as how we say it. There is a tendency to rush through this prayer, as with most any prayer we say frequently, and lose sight of what we are saying. That is why I like to remind people that we do not need to use just the prayer we memorized in second grade. The ritual book gives several different suggestions for the Act of Contrition, including the very simple, “Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” When I go to Confession, I say the prayer in my own words, and it comes out differently every single time. This is such a personal moment for me that I prefer to pray the Act of Contrition spontaneously.
Despite the serious notes that I have made here, I hope we can get a little smile out of such things as “hardly sorry.” I would like to give you a lighthearted look at Confession to combat the trepidation we sometimes bring to the sacrament. I want everyone to know think of Confession as a joyful experience, without any fear of intimidation, even if someone does get mixed up on the Act of Contrition. Father H